Valentina Drofa, Co-Founder and CEO at a trusted PR firm for eminent finance and fintech brands Drofa Comms.
If you ask me about the aspect of my business that I started paying unprecedented attention to recently, I’d say without hesitation that it’s the corporate culture. It happened so that I realized the value and possibilities a strong corporate culture could give later in my years of building a business. But better late than never. First, I had to visualize how I wanted to see my own company in the fintech market, then what kind of employees would have a shared vision, and, most importantly, what kind of CEO I should be.
Amidst a full-fledged fintech crisis, I’m sharing the lessons I’ve learned from building a corporate culture from scratch, uniting diverse professionals, becoming an attractive employer for Gen-Z and valuing continuous training.
United By Diversity
Today, we’re witnessing a new job market realm: The time when employers could choose from a sea of relevant resumes is long gone; now, employers are vying for places in the sun while fighting for talent. The “great resignation” years have shown employees quitting at rates not seen in decades and rising workplace strikes. And now, more than ever, businesses should retain talents and focus on creating the conditions for them to grow and operate in a comfortable environment.
A typical fintech company unites a wide spectrum of professionals: founders, market analysts, financial managers, product teams and creative departments, not to mention representatives of different generations. I learned to apply an individual approach to each employee, taking into account their personal qualities, unique expertise, job position, strengths and weaknesses. Even the most amazing employees in their respective fields possess different communicative styles and may struggle to adjust to a unified manner. A memo on communication with other departments can be of great assistance.
I recommend developing corporate internal communication culture and not only conveying its essence but also explaining why you need this innovation and how teams can benefit from it. For example, I have introduced transparent internal communications guidelines between employees, including company founders. My team followed the lead and developed communication checklists between different departments, specifying how to assign tasks to each other and notify colleagues when they are ready. In addition, we have introduced a “day of silence” in the company with no calls or meetings on Wednesdays, so there is time to focus on current tasks.
Becoming An Example For Gen-Z
Diversity in a workplace also applies to generational diversity. And Generation-Z, like many before them, are changing the rules in the labor market, prioritizing work-life balance, mental health and lack of toxicity over financial motivators. If you haven’t heard of a “quiet quitting” phenomenon, it stands for precisely that. In fact, most employees are burned out, as more than 80% of workers feel overwhelmed. Turnover is high as well. The good news is that thoughtful corporate culture can help tick all the boxes and attract and retain the best Gen-Z talents.
As a CEO, it’s essential to realize that corporate culture is more than just cookies and fresh fruits in the office kitchen (although, who’d reject such a treatment)? It’s a set of values that every founder or company leader should convey to their employees, so they can learn by following the leader’s example. If the company management represents toxic workplace behavior, it can directly affect the employees and validate such unhealthy practices. There’s no better way to attract talents with corporate culture than to become a walking example of such culture. If you want everyone to be on time for a Zoom meeting and respect your schedule, then be on time yourself. We introduced a fun yet orderly rule with my team–meeting’s latecomer recites a short verse. And I am no exception to the rule.
Prioritize Education, Especially In Remote Work
We’ve covered pretty much the most important aspects of the corporate culture. However, I believe that constant training and education are a must in a post-pandemic fintech industry. First, most firms continue operating remotely, which could get in the way of educational exchange and professional networking. Second, fintech is one of the most rapidly changing industries, and it’s too easy to go off the rails if you don’t follow the new developments.
When working with financial companies, it’s vital to position yourself as professionals with high expertise and excellent knowledge of the financial markets. And the whole corporate culture should, among other things, be based on education and transparent grading systems to follow this positioning. Notably, these are the favorable conditions my team emphasized in the latest HR questionnaire. Employees value transparency regarding career development options and the involvement of company leaders in a process.
I have high requirements for each team member, their education and skills. And my company is currently working on a thorough education hub that will support professionals from each department in their career development. After all, by reading one book, you’re already becoming one book smarter than your competitor.
Final Words
As corporate culture is becoming a hot topic among HR teams globally, it must likewise become a concern for every company leader. Today, corporate culture plays a tremendous role in hiring and retaining employees. To attract the best talents, you should invest in education and corporate culture initiatives and hire diverse professionals while avoiding making a clearcut portrait of a “perfect” employee but instead learning to adapt to different personalities and develop a comfortable communication style.
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